


Steam Powered Wheels

by Serrenedy



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-13 05:45:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2139279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serrenedy/pseuds/Serrenedy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So...my friend Lily asked me to write a fic in which Tavros and Horuss get together. Like an IDIOT, I agreed. This thing is being done in chapters because my brain can't be forced to comprehend this for too long. Lily please like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You crashed into my life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elf Princess for Life](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Elf+Princess+for+Life).



The first time Horuss met Tavros, it was the crashing that alerted him to the new presence in his workshop. Horuss looked up to see the young troll with metal legs blustering around. To tell the truth, distinctive as they were, it wasn’t the metal legs that fist caught his attention, but rather the horns, a familiar shape in his years of red rom with their owner. Or not necessarily _this_ owner, but it was obvious that this must be the first of many Dancestors that Feferi warned were coming. The ‘Not Rufioh’ didn’t seem to have a good handle on his horns and kept crashing, nor did he have any wings to speak of. Horuss weighed internally the pros and cons of being a good person, but the young ‘Not Rufioh’ made the choice for him. As adorable as it was to watch him stumble, there was something ‘off’ in his legs and he managed to find a set of stairs before wobbling and falling miserably. Horuss’ chuckle died in his throat at the pathetic groan the ‘Not Rufioh’ gave and he raced to check if the poor thing was alright. As he flipped the boy over, he became aware of the fourth most surprising thing about him. His eyes were a bright gold, not the white that accompanied death. Either he wasn’t dead…or he didn’t remember. Horuss felt his blood pusher skip a beat and his digestive sponge go into his shoes. He was struck by the memory of also being the one to tell Rufioh when he’d died.

          “Are you alright?” He asked the young troll; hoping against what he knew was true. The wriggler (and he truly was a wriggler, the poor thing was only on his second pupation) looked up at him.

          “oH, HI EQUIUS…i FELL DOWN THE STAIRS AGAIN,” The boy spoke in a stuttering way, almost as if ‘Equius’ had reason to be mad at him. “i DON’T KNOW HOW i ENDED UP IN YOUR WORKSHOP BUT, i’M LEAVING, i SWEAR” Horuss smiled down at the child.

          “Both statements are 100dicrous. Firstly, I am not Equius, and secondly were your presence in my workshop truly an inconvenience, I possess quite enough STRENGTH to remove you with only a hoof. You may calm yourself.” The ‘not Rufioh’ blinked up at him a few more times before his entire face turned brown.

          “Oh, i’M REALLY SORRY ABOUT THAT, i’VE ONLY SEEN ONE OTHER WORKSHOP AND eQUIUS LIVED THERE, yEAH, yOU WOULDN’T BE HIM, yOU GUYS LOOK REALLY DIFRENT NOW THAT i’M LOOKING” He flailed a few times, trying to get back up before Horuss took it upon himself to just pick the child up and place him on his metallic feet. ‘Not Rufioh’ smiled at the gesture. “tHANKS, FOR THE HELP UM…WAIT, IF YOU AREN’T eQUIUS, THEN WHO ARE YOU?” Horuss chuckled at the boy.

          “My name is Horuss, and you are…” The ‘Not Rufioh almost fell where he stood he started to flail so hard.

          “oH, sORRY, i SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT FIRST, i MEAN, I’M HERE IN YOUR WORKSHOP, cRASHING THROUGH EVERYTHING, aND THIS WHOLE TIME i HAVEN’T EVEN GIVEN YOU MY NAME, iT’S tAVROS.” ‘Tavros’ held out a hand for Horuss to shake, which he did good naturedly. “uMMMMM, NOT TO BE RUDE OR ANYTHING, BUT CAN YOU TELL ME HOW i GOT HERE?” The smile on Horuss’ face instantly flipped. He looked a bit…sad behind his goggles.

          “I have an idea of how you managed to get in. Two actually, I’m hoping it was the second scenario rather than the first.” The smile he attempted was a bit weak, but Tavros seemed not to notice it, looking up at him while standing on legs that did not seem to get tired. “Very well, I must ask you, before you trotted in here did you fall asleep at any juncture in the road?” Tavros screwed up his face, trying to remember.

          “i DON’T THINK SO, i MIGHT HAVE TAKEN A NAP BEFORE GOING TO… NO, i COULDN’T SLEEP, sO i MARCHED RIGHT UP TO vRISKA, sHE HAD TO BE STOPPED, sHE WAS GONNA MAKE jACK,” Horuss nodded. He didn’t know who this ‘Jack’ charater was, but he was proably not important in the grand scheme of things other than being somethingthe game had manipulated to give them a challenge. “sO i WENT TO STOP HER AND…” Tavros’ eyes widened suddenly and a large hole appeared right in middle of his chest. Horuss gasped and flinched away as brown blood began pooling on the floor of the workshop. “sHE RAN ME THROUGH WITH MY OWN LANCE” Hs eyes turned white as he recalled that he was in fact—dead. “oH MAN, I SUCK, tHIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO rUFIO”

          “Please stop at once” Horuss squirmed. Blood was never alright with him, and since dating Rufioh, brown blood in particular was a bit harder to swallow than normal, and now it was touching his feet. Tavros blinked once, then looked at him confusedly. “There is no reason to stay in the appearance of how you 100ked upon death. If that were the case, then I’d be sawed in two and my Matesprit wou100d be beheaded. You can 100k however you wish to in here. So please, cease sullying my hooves with this me100dramatic attitude.”

          “sORRY,” Tavros stammered and focused. At once the blood stopped and the hole in his chest disappeared, bringing no small amount of relief to Horuss. “wAIT,” Tavros seemed struck by an idea. “i CAN MAKE MYSELF LOOK LIKE…ANYTHING?” Horuss frowned.

          “Not anything unfortunately, I’ve tried. But you can 100k like you have at any moment in life.” Tavros’ face lit up again. He took a few deep breaths, then quite suddenly his mechanical legs changed to real ones. His smile was second only to Rufioh’s and he started dancing on his new legs (or rather his old ones). Another sound alerted both of them to happenings in the lab.

          “EQUIUS—WHERE ARE YOU YOU SWEATY FREAK YOU SAID YOU’D HELP ME” Wherever the female was in the lab, Horuss hadn’t seen or heard her until she started shouting. Tavros and he looked at each other, then split up to find her. She sounded like she was in pain. “EQUIUS! C8ME 8N” she gave out a pained groan somewhere to the left of Horuss’ position. And so it  was Horuss that stumbled onto her first. He almost retched from the blood. Her arm was completely gone, and he couldn’t tell how much of her face followed suit as it was covered in cerulean. She was curled up in a ball, and so didn’t see him coming. “The 8itch 8lew my arm off…and you promised you’d help me. Where are you” She started shaking with the force of her sobs. “EQUIUS YOU 8LOO 8LOODED ASS HOLE WHERE ARE YOU” Horuss grabbed her by her shoulders (Or rather, her shoulder and the nub that was left of the other one).  She looked up at him with yellow eyes. If he had to guess, this was probably how she died. Horuss swallowed back his discomfort to talk to the distressed troll.

          “I am not Equius, though by the assumption both you and Tavros have made, he may very well be my Dancestor.” She looked up at him and squinted her good eye.

          “Not Equius? 8ut the only time I was in here was too…” She trailed off as her arm returned, now a metal duplicate. Her glasses had changed too, most importantly cleaning her face and showing that the eye was the only real issue there. By her blood color Horuss had already pegged her as Aranea’s Dancestor, but he was a bit confused as to how that hadn’t been what killed her. Cerulean or not, with that amount of blood loss she’d have to live extremely close to Equius and he had to be ready for her when she walked in the door.

          vRISKA?” Tavros came from the other direction, finally finding them. “oH THANK GODDNESS” Vriska blinked at him a few times.

          “Pupa? What’re you doing here? And how do you have legs? Didn’t I throw you off a cliff?” Tavros blushed at this and looked away from her. She started to examine her arm a bit more. “If you have legs then…I don’t need this anymore.” She arm returned to normal as she looked at Tavros critically. She went God-Tier, a thief of Light. She then started to fly. “I killed you. Yeah, I slid your stupid puny lance through your whiney 8a8y chest. And then Gamzee went nuts, and Kanaya…and Terezi” Vriska’s eyes went wide and white. The yellow of her uniform was stained green, then blue as more blood pooled around where her blood—pusher. “Terezi killed me.” The girl started to sniffle back tears, even as she laughed. “Good for her. Can’t 8elive myself, dou8ting my own scourge sister. She showed me alright. Sta88ed me right in the 8ack.” She wiped the tears away with a bright smile. “Good ol’ Terezi. Just when you think you’ve got her pegged. That’s a mind player for you I guess.” She then turned to Horuss. “And who are you? I thought for SURE I’d see sweaty here with the fur8all since I was one of the last ones standing from…well, guess it doesn’t matter now.” Horuss frowned

          “My name is Horuss” He repeated to the significantly ruder newcomer. “And if you wou100d please stop bleeding on my floor.” She looked up at him, and he tried to avoid looking at her blood—soaked front. She switched a lot easier than Tavros had, presumably because she had a familiar face to focus on. Once done, she stretched, though her muscles should have been fine.

          “So…what’s there to do here? 8esides get 8ored?” Horuss scowled. It was bad enough that this girl apparently hurt the Rufioh look—alike Tavros. But her rudeness was severely grating on his nerves, and she was lucky both that he was wearing his de—strengthing suit and that he was not a violent troll to begin with.

          “Well, as I heard his name mentioned. I was planning on taking Tavros to see my Matesprite Rufioh.” Predictably, both wrigglers gasped. Horuss let the tiniest twinge of a smile pull at his lips.

          “RUFIO’S REAL” Both asked, though differently. Tavros asked as an almost reverent tone, bowled on in awe at the idea. Vriska on the other hand (to add to the ever growing dislike of her) sounded horrified. Horuss started to sweat with anger, luckily powering the suit so that if he slammed her head into something it wouldn’t hurt her as much as it could have.

          “I can’t 8elive your imaginary sense of non-existent confidence is real” She growled to herself. Tavros didn’t seem to notice her tone of voice.

          “i KNOW, iSN’T IT AMAZING,” Vriska pouted, while Tavros was bouncing on the tips of his feet. “yOU’LL REALLY TAKE US TO SEE HIM?” Horuss smiled at them.

          “I was cantering over anyway. It is no trouble to take a couple of wrigglers with me.” Tavros’ face lit up and he ran to Horuss. He began to play what felt like 50 questions. All about Rufioh. Horuss didn’t mind, he enjoyed talking about Matesprite and answering questions about how they met and like. He was annoyed however, when Vriska joined in with questions like ‘he has wings, they seem like they’re better in theory. I mean WINGS CONSTANTLY, how annoying does that even get?”


	2. Miss-Comunication Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you will see a lot of my personal head cannons in this. Like-Nepeta is INSANELY STRONG just from being friends with Equius. And, Damara's actually pretty nice to people that aren't BITCHES to her. (I have this whole thought that she's actually really good friends with Kurloz and was friends with Meulin until she betrayed her to hang out with Horuss. but yeah. I hope I translated her right. That being said, this chapter happened a lot faster than I thought it would. I think I can fuffil my promise of having this done in a week. YAY!

Tavros decided that he was going to start learning ancient Eastern Beforian. This decision was made solely on the fact that it was the language currently being cried out by the troll in front of him. He caught Rufioh’s name a few times, along with Horuss’. But the rest of her babbling was incomprehensible…well, babbling.  


“私は申し訳ありません。RUFIOH HORNS. I THINK. 私は申し訳ありません。I WRONG. FORGIVE?” Tavros bit his lip, before smiling at her. She looked confused with his expression.  


“uMMM…nO PROBLEM MISS, bUT i JUST HAVE TO ASK WHERE tINKER—bULL IS, i COULD HAVE SWORN HE WAS RIGHT OVER HERE.” Burgundy tears begin to well up in her eyes.  


“それは私が言おうとしてきたものだ。私はあなたが一目でRufioh思っていたので、私は彼を取り、このボックスに彼をロックされています。” Again, Tavros didn’t understand a word save ‘Rufioh’. The woman used some psionic ability to drag forward a large metal lockbox. One that had been welded shut. Tavros blinked in confusion at the thing until it shook. His eyes widened.  


“tINKER—bULL’S IN THERE?” The woman nodded sorrowfully.  


“I no know. See horns, think Rufioh. He get Pony boy to help. You no pony boy, lost. 私は申し訳ありません” Tavros just blinked back tears at the object. But something she said rang a bell in his mind.  


“pONY BOY? YOU MEAN hORUSS?” The woman instantly stopped crying.  


“あなたは彼を知っている！彼を愛していますか？うん！誰もがします！何が彼をとても素晴らしい作る？彼は馬になりたい! 彼はクレイジーだ... どのように誰もが彼を愛することができる？” Tavros jumped back. Apparently this woman was not a big fan of Horuss. She probably wasn’t a big fan of Rufioh either. It suddenly made sense that she had done something horrible to him then mentioned Rufioh in her apology. She stopped ranting at once to stare at him with a manic glee. “実際に、それは素晴らしいアイデアだ。若い強奪者としてRufiohの足の下から彼を盗む、その後、あなたはそれらのupswingsの一つを待つ。彼は私が感じた同じ痛みを感じてみましょう。私は、これは私がまだ知らない素敵な友情少しベータ版かもしれないと思う。” Again Tavros didn’t catch most of that. But the lady seemed happy, in face she was almost swooning over something. “あなたは正しい瞬間を待つ, Rufiohが成立したときそしてHorussは悲惨であるその後、攻撃!” Tavros blinked at her. Her smile seemed to be on the verge of splitting her face apart.  


“uMMMM…rIGHT, sO TAKE THIS TO hORUSS?” Her smile got impossibly wider. She nodded a few times. “cOOL, iT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU MISS…aRADIA’S DANCESTOR.” She waved him goodbye as he started to lug the heavy chest. It dragged on the ground as he heaved with all of his strength, but he was ready to collapse after a few steps. He turned around to ask her for help, but she had disappeared. As he looked around he noted that she possibly hadn’t moved and that he’d just wandered into a different bubble. He seemed to be on a Lily—Pad of some sort. He looked around for someone, anyone.  


“hi tavros. what’s up? the huntress asks while quirking her head to the side” Tavros spun around to see Nepeta where she hadn’t been before. As she mentioned, her head was quirked to the side.  


“aH HI nEPETA, i’M LOOKING FOR hORUSS, hAVE YOU SEEN HIM ANYWHERE?”  


“yup the huntress proclaims as she pounces on tavros’ mysterious paw—ject.” Tavros side stepped so that she had space to pounce and once on the box she began to scratch and claw at it. “what’s in this thing anyway?” She asked him. He flushed.  


“uMMM…sOMEONE THAT DOSEN’T LIKE rUFFIOH VERY MUCH THOUGHT i WAS HIM AND LOCKED UP tINKER—bULL,” Nepeta’s face turned from a grin to a mask of horror. “bUT IT’S ALRIGHT, sHE SAID THAT hORUSS CAN OPEN IT…i THINK.”  


“we better get this to horuss as fast as possible then!” The girl proclaimed. With that, she lifted the lockbox with one hand and started to march. “last i saw, he and equi—hiss were hanging out going over robot stuff.” She started off a brisk pace that had Tavros tripping over his feet to catch up to her. It did not take long with Nepeta leading to get to where the two Dancestors were. They seemed to be working on some sort of horse bot. The concentration on Horuss’ face didn’t allow for the…frankly freaky smile Meulin had insisted upon him using. “hi equi—hiss!” She chirped as she saw them. “hello hor—puss” . Equius frowned, but reached over to give her a hair ruffle. He was wearing the hat she’d loved so much in life, but it had been his last gift before death, so it was fitting.  


“Hello Neigh—peta.” Horuss smiled at her. Equius gave a face palm to that before sighing and mumbling about being the only one who respected the structural integrity of a name. Horuss blushed at the circumstance he’d caused. Nepeta went over to Equius and paped him a few times. It was then that Horuss notice Tavros.  


“Ah, Hello Tavros. Hay are you this fine day?” Tavros smiled. He didn’t really understand Horuss’ horse thing, but he tried to be as supportive a friend he could.  


“uMMMM…tHERE’S A TROLL WHO DOSEN’T REALLY LIKE rUFFIOH” Horuss nodded  


“Damara. His ex—Matesprite. Continue” Tavros’ eyes almost popped out of his skull. Neither Rufioh nor Horuss had ever mentioned having a Matesprite before they found one another, let alone an ex that was mad enough to hurt Tinker—Bull.  


“wELL, SHE KINDA LOCKED tINKER—bULL UP IN A CHEAST AND i CAN’T GET HIM OUT.” Horuss nodded understandingly.  
“In that case, take me to him…if you remember the way. She likes to change around the dream bubbles after she does such pranks.” Tavros blinked again. She was pranking Rufioh? It didn’t seem like it.  


“aCTUALLY, THE CHEST IS HERE.” Horuss’ eyebrows were actually visible under his goggles. He started to sweat.  


“That…that’s very kind of you. Usually I have to find it myself as Rufioh rarely remembers where she is. Thank you. But, if I may ask, how did you bring it here? I’ve been saddled with the boxes she uses before. On average they’re quite a bit heaver than Rufioh himself.” Tavros wordlessly pointed to Nepeta, who had calmed Equius down and was now chatting with him, still holding the chest as if she didn’t notice the weight. Horuss stared for a moment. “Are all Alternian born trolls that STRONG?” He asked. Tavros shook his head.  


“nEPETA JUST WORKS OUT WITH eQUIUS ALL THE TIME, vRISKA’S NOT STRONG SO MUCH AS JUST…WELL, RUTHLESS, THE SAME THING GOES FOR kANAYA, BUT SHE’S ONLY BAD WHEN SHE SNAPPS, sHE’S USUALLY REALLY NICE” Horuss looked back at Tavros, then at Nepeta.  


“Let’s see if we can crack open the case, shall we?” He went and retrieved the case from the cat girl that had completely forgotten about it. Tavros did not like the frown he was sporting as he came back. “Well, the simple matter of it is that she’s gotten creative. If I pull the welding to hard I have a chance of taking off his wings.” Tavros gasped at that. Horuss winced again. “If there was some way for him to stop flapping in there”  


“oH!” Horuss looked at him in surprise. Tavros blushed. It was the first time he’d interrupted Horuss while the blue blood was talking, and he seemed to be sweating even more at that. “uMMM, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? yOU’RE SWEATING AN AWFUL LOT,” Horuss coughed once into his hand, before nodding.  


“I am fine, just not used to being interrupted is all. Please, continue”  


“wELL, i CAN COMMUNICATE WITH ANIMALS, i’VE TALKED TO tINKER—bULL LOADS OF TIMES ALREADY.” Horuss nodded. Tavros got to work. “oH NO…tHIS IS GONNA TAKE A WHILE, tHE CAGE IS TOO SMALL FOR HIM,” Horuss shrugged.  


“It is no issue, I’m not doing anything else, and time matters not here.”

Sometime while working, Equius and Nepeta had wandered off, neither Horuss nor Tavros could say exactly when. They also couldn’t tell you when they had started talking to one another, though they could tell you each word the other said. By the time Tinker—Bull was free, Horuss was horrified that Tavros had apparently become Matesprites with that awful Serket girl he’d met before, though it did explain the green outfit and the slumped shoulders. By the time Tinker—Bull was free, Tavros was convinced that Rufioh was better than him in every conceivable way. And had started to wonder if Equius was anything like his Dancestor and how to leave Vriska without double dying, if that was a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I don't know WHAT happened to the formatting on this. I tried, I really did just...I'm sorry


	3. Porrim's Pale Tales

It was a dark day in the dreambubbles. Dark in the metaphorical sense, but also dark because Tavros has been hanging out with Kurloz. ‘Hanging out’ might be stretching it. The fact remained that Kurloz reminded Tavros a bit of Gamzee (mostly in appearance) and even though the other Capricorn had had a bit of a red crush on him, he’d had a pale crush and the surge of confidence that had led to leaving Vriska was not only gone, his already nonexistent self-esteem had imploded. Kurloz was currently the only thing keeping him from literally crawling back to her. If the mime found the other boy annoying, he didn’t say anything…or otherwise attempt to get away from him. In fact when he’d found him (pacing through dream bubbles and muttering out loud about how it was a bad idea and he should go see if she’d still take him back) the mime had smiled once and grabbed him by a horn to indicate that the boy was to follow him. After a few minutes, Tavros got the hint and stop trying to run away (or babble at one of the few trolls that couldn’t answer him). He just followed his silent guide, noting absently that every bubble they entered was just as dark as the last and wondered if everyone was experiencing bad memories, or if it was just the mime’s preference. As it turned out, Kurloz was guiding Tavros to hive.

           “iS THIS WHERE YOU LIVE?” Tavros asked. Kurloz raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head. “oH” He sighed. “tHen…wHERE ARE WE?” As an answer to the question, Kurloz reached up and knocked on the door of the hive. A shapely female troll in a VERY low-cut dress answered.

             “O+h, Kurlo+z, what are yo+u do+ing here?” The woman leaned against the doorway. Kurloz raised a single hand and started to sign. Tavros didn’t understand it, but apparently the woman at the door did. She nodded a few times. “I do+n’t kno+w if it’s a go+o+d idea.Maybe a while ago+ when it was Latula, but no+w Damara’s here. Ho+russ to+o+.” Kurloz smiled a bit, then signed some more. Whatever he said made the woman blush jade. “Careful! Kankri was here no+t lo+ng ago+. We just go+t rid o+f him. I’d rather he didn’t co+me back.” Kurloz flushed so badly it was visible through his paint. He frowned and made a bunch of negative symbols even Tavros understood. She threw her head back and laughed. “Well if that’s ho+w yo+u feel” She stopped to snicker again. “But I do+n’t get it. Did yo+u and Mituna have a fight?” Kurloz gave her a confused face before shaking his head. “Why are yo+u at the-and these are yo+ur wo+rds, ‘Resident Quadrant Fuck Slut’s Sinful Ass Hive’. And furthermo+re why are yo+u asking fo+r a feelings jam?” Kurloz looked confused again. Then snapped in her face and pointed down to Tavros. She blinked and looked down at him. “O+h! I didn’t even see yo+u there! Hi, I do+n’t think we’ve met. My name is Po+rrim.” Tavros blushed at being put on the spot, but introduced himself to the woman. “What’s the pro+blem?” She asked. Tavros was having issues looking at her, the concept of a designated Quadrant Slut a bit pan aching. But Kurloz snapped again and signed. Porrim’s eyes widened and she calmly reached up and grabbed one of Tavros’ horns. She thanked Kurloz for bringing him and dragged the brown blood in with her. Porrim placed Tavros on a couch. As he looked up he saw that Horuss was in an armchair across from him and that Damara was the only one in the pile, smoking something. Horuss looked up as Tavros sat down. He started both to cry and sweat. 

               “Tavros!” He attempted to smile, but it was wan, ruined by the effect of his tears. “What are you doing here my friend?” Tavros bit his lip, but was saved from answering by Porrim returning with pastries and milk.

             “Why wo+uld anyo+ne co+me to+ the ho+me o+f the Pale Who+re. Same reason as yo+u Ho+russ, he’s having issues.” She slams the plate of pastriies down. “Here we go+ O+atmeal co+o+kies for Ho+russ, I didn’t kno+w yo+u were co+ming Tavro+s, so+ yo+u get sugared ho+ney crips with me, and catnip bro+wnies fo+r Damara.” At the word ‘cat’ what little smile Horuss had forced, fell again, and the tears started to fall in earnest. Tavros’s bloodphusher started to ache. Damara looked over with an expression caught somewhere between smug, and sorry.

             “wHAT HAPPENED?” He asked.

             “  私は彼がどうなると語った。”  Damara supplied. Though it didn’t help Tavros at all. “HE NO WORTH TEARS” She said. Tavros jumped. He wasn’t aware of the fact she could speak western. Damara actually grabbed one of her brownies and crossed to Horuss to offer it. He just shook his head and cried harder. Porrim paped him, which caused him to seize up a bit. As she stood by the chair, he leaned closer to her presence.

             “We were having a sharing circle.” Porrim explained calmly. “Ho+russ just went. And Damara’s here fo+r the same pro+blem she always is. Since if we hear it again, we’ll be at the same spo+t we started—yo+u.” The prospect of spilling in a group discussion to a confirmed pale whore was a bit surreal. Horuss’ sniffles had abated a bit, and he managed to look up at him. Damara looked like she was genuinely interested. The expression on Porrim’s face instantly _made_ him want to spill his blood pusher. He took a deep breath and sent an apology to Karkat through the bubbles, as if his nubby friend might feel the atrocity against quadrents he was about to commit.

             “wELL, HONESTLY…i FEEL, i THAT. i THINK…tO BE HONEST” Tavros took a deep breath. He could feel the tears started. He was paped before he could begin crying, surprisingly not by Porrim, but by Damara. The rust blood smiled softly at him.

             “WHOLE HOUSE PILE FOR PORRIM. TALK” Tavros sighed again as the woman perched on the couch and rubbed at the base of his horn with feather light pale touches.

             “i JUST THINK i’D BE BETTER OFF IF i WERE MORE LIKE rUFFIOH is all,” Damara’s off the couch and ranting before he could understand the fact that there’s no more touch on him. Porrim sighed deeply, and didn't not seem to care that there are several breakable objects hitting both the ground and walls from the out of control pionics. Porrim went to calm the raging woman. The jade blood began yelling at her in the same language.  Tavros looks on at the mess he’s inadvertently caused in horror. Or, he is until the couch dips again. He swivels his head to Horuss, who looks like he’s fighting back the tears again. 

            “Tavros…why?” He cuts himself off before continuing, the tears truly starting.

             “hE’S WELL…CONFIDANT, hE WOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN INTO THE MESS i GOT INTO WITH vRISKA…tHE MESS THAT ENDED AS MESSILY AS POSSIBLE, hE WOULDN’T GET BULLIED INTO A RELATIONSHIP HE DIDN’T WANT TO THE POINT HE STARTED TO THINK HE WANTED, hE WOULDN’T FLUSH FOR A GIRL WHO ONLY FEELS IN SHADES OF BLACK, hE’S JUST…hE’S JUST BETTER THEN ME” And with that statement, the dam breaks. Words come tumbling out before he’s even aware of them forming in his head. About his whole life, and how it would have been better with Rufioh’s confidence. About all the things Vriska had talked him into, about him being afraid to disobey her because the last time it had happened he’d gotten his spine broken. He spoke about living his life in constant fear that he’d be culled and pouring all his energy into having as normal a life as was possible. He confessed missing the F.L.A.R.P. sessions that no one was safe to play anymore, and of spending most of the time in the game asleep not because he could walk or even that he could fly but for the simple fact that Vriska wasn’t there. He shook as he spoke about how he’d whished for Rufioh to be real and fight his battles for him, for anyone to care about him the way he did them. He feel apart in his regrets that he’d never taken Gamzee up on the sloppy makeouts because now he was dead and the only kisses that he’d ever received were from Vriska and…Tavros didn’t realize he was crying until he was being shooshed by Porrim. Once he was shocked out of his head, he noticed the twin looks of pity from both Damara and Horuss. And he cried worse, because he couldn’t take the look from Horuss, Horuss who was so nice to him for no reason and seemed to genuinely like his company and had perfect Rufioh and would never look like that if he wasn’t already out of his think pan with misery over something. He clung to Porrim and she hummed slightly and rocked with him.

             “Damara, hand me so+me co+o+kies please” She asked. The Eastern born woman quickly did so and Tavros numbly accepted the pastry that was shoved into his mouth as well as the milk that followed. Porrim chuckled slightly. “I sho+uld just call this the Rufio+h suppo+rt gro+up. Damara co+mes by weekly anyway. It can be like a bo+o+k club. Tavros blinks wildly.

             “rUFIOH SUPPORT GROUP? wHAT DID HE EVER DO?”

             “Ran yo+u all in here fo+r o+ne.” Porrim sighs.

             “Do not compare yourself to such a 100d and vulgar monster.” Horuss sniffs. Tavros stared at him in confusion. Horuss takes a few breaths and starts to cry again. Porrim reaches out her other arm and drapes it around the blue blooded horse.

             “Rufio+h claimed that he was sick to+ get o+ut o+f a date. When Ho+urss here went to+ check o+n him like a go+o+d Matesprite he fo+und that he was in fact firmly o+n the pailing platfo+rm…With Meulin…his Mo+irail.” Tavros gasped, though that did explain why Horuss was here instead of with Meulin. He started crying cobalt again, Porrim soundly paped him and he leaned into her touch.

             “RUFIOH BAD.” Damara says, before a litany of words in Ancient East Beforan.

             “Go+t that right.” Porrim muttered. Horuss mumbled into her dress and she just massages at his horn.

             “TAVRO” Damara says, and he turns his attention to her. “なぜRufiohあなたのようなスカムまで求めますか？” He blinks at her. She groans, and then starts off in another rant. “どうしてそんなことと同じくらい悪いことしたいですか？あなたは良い子供だナイーブが、甘い！彼はあなたを台無しにする彼はすべてを台無しにした彼が引き起こされるのダメージを見てください！”Porrim rolls her eyes. She stands, taking Horuss with her and places him in the pile. Damara follows her and, after a beat so does Tavros.

 

Porrim has some kind of Superpower. She is able to calm the irate Damara, bring the wailing Horuss to a ‘happy’ place, and even toss an ember in the furnace that is Tavros’ self-confidence. There are no days in the dream bubbles, there is no time in the dream bubbles. But at some time, it ends and the pile disperses with an open invitation to return should they need anything else. They all spend the…sleep cycle over at her house, but Tavros wakes last. There is a note with his name on it.  

 

_Tavro+s_

 

 _If yo+u are reading this, then MAN can yo+u sleep. There is so+me fo+o+d o+n the preparatio+n blo+ck still. Yo+u are welcome to+ co+me by if Vriska starts hunting yo+u again. And I’ll be sure to+ talk to+ Aranea abo+ut her Dancesto+r. She o+wes me a favo+r anyway. By the way, someo+ne (I’m go+o+d at this and no+t telling anyo+ne’s secret) talks in their sleep and exclaimed that they were heartbro+ken to+ find o+ut the o+nly kisses you had go+tten were fro+m—their words, “That vile and o+dio+us girl”. They said they’d break her little ship if she messed with yo+u again. They co+uld, **he is very stro+ng**_ _but again, no+t saying who+’s go+t a red crush o+n yo+u. Also+, the general co+nsensus is yo+u’re a much better perso+n than Rufio+h. I’m inclined to+ agree, just met yo+u but…no+ self-impo+sed sense o+f impo+rtance, no+ false bravado+, and yo+u haven’t managed to+ send anyo+ne running to+ me yet. Yo+u seem to+ be do+ing a lot better than him. Even Damara likes you, and take it from me—that’s no+t an easy feat. Do+n’t beat yo+urself up to+ much, and if yo+u do+, come o+ver again! The invitation+n is a general thing, no+t just Vriska related, you need to blo+w o+ff steam sometimes. Have yo+u EVER had a palemate? Yo+u bro+ke faster than china durring o+ne o+f Damara's mo+o+ds!_

 

 _Po+rrim_

 

 _P.S._ _He’s also+ a Ho+rse_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was completely lost. I originally wanted to do a thing with Horuss making Tav mechanical wings so that he could fly like Rufioh, and then my brain came back with a helpful-THEY CAN FLY IN DEATH YOU IDIOT. So then I wanted Horrus to be walking around, see Tav throwing a hissyfit because of Vriska, take him to Rufioh to calm him down, and open the door on Rufioh and Muelin. That didn't end up happening, mostly because-I've asked, I''m not allowed to put this in pale. So then I got mad at myself. 'I shoulda saved Damara, she's a GREAT stick yo move plot. And then I realized...I'M THE WRITER! Who the FUCK says I can't use her twice. So I did. Kurloz snuck in because I have a SERIOUS thing for the Markaras. (Sorry/Not Sorry)And this was born. I don't know how I managed Porrim I was just like-they need someone to talk to...PALESLUT! I love her, she;s actually a really great character and this strikes me as something she would do, saying unattached in the pale quadrant so that she can help every and any one that comes to her with problems,and being the best Moiral ever because she's got something for everyone and knows everything. 'Cause she's awesome like that, and totally sweet. ((and Meddling runs in her line)).


	4. W1ngs o+f Wo+e

Rufioh was more than a little weirded out by Tavros. The kid was him from before the horrific second pupation. The same one where he’d woken up and known that his life would never be the same. The same one where he’d taken up his then Matespirte’s offer to move closer where not as many people would see him. By his calculations, Tavros should be exactly like he was before the pupation from Hell. Happy, carefree, hopeful of life and all it had to offer. Well, Alternia was a lot more violent than Beforus, so maybe not…but still. He wasn’t very sure what to do with the ever hopeful child with even worse self—esteem then him. The kid looked up to him though. Enough to ask how to lose a Matesprite they thought they’d wanted. Rufioh had given him the advice, then gotten stopped a short while later by the angry mini—Aranea. He hid out for a bit after that. It seemed the ability to choose ‘em ran through the Nitram line. He didn’t understand it though, the kid had everything but the ability to open his eyes and see how good he had it. He ended up where everyone ended up at some point or another. (Well, everyone but Kurloz and Mituna—they had their shit together). He flew by the windows, and waited until she was free before knocking on the door. She opened it with the air of someone that was waiting for him. Rather than the looks of pity that were reserved for those that came slinking to her door, there was a fixed glare on her face and her plump lips were pursed into a cross frown. 

            “hey porr1m babe,” Rufioh smiled. Porrim did not. She did in fact have a superpower in her gaze, and as it was leveled on him, his false sense of confidence started to bleed out through his shoes. “1 just—” he tried. Her eyes narrowed again. There was no hiding from her. He slumped down and lost the ever present smile. He took a deep breath then. As he started to turn away, she spoke, though only one word.

             “IN” She snapped. He ducked his head and maneuvered into her hive. He should’ve looked around better to make sure Damara hadn’t been around lately…or Horuss for that matter. She was probably tired of hearing his name for a bit. Rufioh slunk his way to the kitchen from memory rather than following the sound of Porrim’s heals. There was a tense silence until she slammed down a plate of honey Mochi and a cup of wild rose tea. He accepted gratefully, knowing she’s still willing to help him if she kept his favorites on hand. She pulled out the chair across from him and he feels more than hears her fangs gnash down one of the crisps that she keeps around for herself. He knows that the steaming mug she’s drinking from contains blood rather than tea. It might be Kankri. He just left, and he was relatively easy to summon.

             “porr1m 1 just needed—”

             “SAVE IT” She snapped. “My hive has been a revo+lving do+o+r fo+r peo+ple dealing with YO+U” She sighed, falling quiet again. Rufioh eats his Mochi in silence, allowing her to steam. “Why MUELIN” She finally snapped. “Really, if yo+u were go+ing to+ go+ alo+ng with this _asinine_ plo+t of yo+urs yo+u co+uld have easily used Cro+nus. He’s desperate eno+ugh.”Rufioh’s face falls at that.

             “honestly, 1 was hopin he’d run 1n here…much as meu’s a cool cat, she’s not a good mo1ra1l for him.” Porrim frowned at that. She thought that might be the answer, for Rufioh was many things, but never intentionally cruel. “and 1 d1dn’t want cro to get the wrong 1dea. 1 mean…1 like the guy well enough, but he’s gonna th1nk we’re matespr1tes…1 think 1’m gonna keep away from that quadrant after horuss and ‘mara.” Porrim took a deep sigh, pinching at the furrow between her eyes.

             “Yo+u never to+ld me what the o+riginal pro+blem with Damara was. I o+nly kno+w o+ne side o+f that sto+ry.” Rufioh flushed, turning chocolate up to the tips of ears.

             “they were just…just oppos1te problems o.k?” Porrim glared at him, and he thought she might smack him, before he remembered that she had a long standing ‘no violence in the house’ rule from before Kurloz had sewn his mouth shut and was gunning for a kissmissitude with Kankri.

             “I help with issues. Yo+u kno+w this. I never turn anyo+ne away. That being said, I will amend that rule just fo+r yo+u if yo+u do+n’t tell me what I’ve go+tten myself grub scars deep in.” Rufioh flinched. He didn’t want that. No one wanted to be actively banned from Porrim’s hive, and though there were the ones she didn’t want coming, she was always there to help. She’d been the reason Mituna hadn’t gone off the deep end before meeting Kurloz. He took another deep breath, then threw back the rest of his tea in one go. 

            “alr1ght. When 1 was just a grub, 1 met Damara. She was sweet, she was cool…seemed to think 1 was cool too…no matter what 1 wanted to do, she was down for 1t. thought that was real cool.” He munched on Mochi to kill time. His wings fluttered uncomfortably behind him. Porrim refiled his cup.

             “Co+ntine Rufio+h.”

             “what 1f someone comes 1n?” He tried. She smiled sweetly at him.

             “My do+o+r is lo+cked. And if anyo+ne co+mes by, I just wo+n’t o+pen it. I’ve been waiting sweeps fo+r this. They can wait fo+r me. Talk.” Her glare leaves no more room for argument.

             “alr1ght, a1right…pupation. You remember that?” She nods.

             “Ho+w co+uld I fo+rget? Kankri screamed so+ hard I tho+ught I’d go+ deaf when he saw yo+ur wings.” Porrim chuckled at that. A wan smile clawed its way across Rufioh’s face. He did remember that. Kankri had fawned over them much in the same way Tavros did now. He had screamed at the thought that Rufioh would be culled and taken far away. The poor boy hadn’t been able to speak for a week after that. Rufioh had been able to assure him that it wouldn’t happen. But the next day…

             “when 1 saw the culling drones…1 grabed t1nker—bull and ran, ran to the one place no one would rat me out. damara was n1ce about 1t. helped me bu1ld a home 1n the trees where no one could f1nd me. 1t changed us though.” He quieted, biting his lip. He only snapped out of his thoughts when Porrim papped him. He bit his lip and only noticed he was crying as she reached out with a napkin and blotted his cheeks. “r1ght.” He sighed. “1 changed. 1 know that. she stayed the same, and 1 changed.”

             “Rufio+h” Porrim snapped. “If yo+u are go+ing to+ start o+ff on so+me bullshit abo+ut the wings making yo+u mo+re free while she was gro+unded.” He cut her off then, his laugh at least.

             “can’t h1de from you can 1 doll? nah, that’s not what happened. Oppos1te happened. she was st1ll sweet…st1ll down for whatever, she kept ask1ng me what the plan for the day was. 1 just d1dn’t have one. wasn’t sure of any of my cho1ces anymore. then one day…horuss was just there. he was…THERE ya know? that’s when 1t was perfect. he was g1v1ng me orders, so 1 felt l1ke 1 couldn’t make any cho1ces that were too bad, ‘casue then he’d stop me. ‘mara g1v1n me a conf1dence boost and horuss keep1n me grounded.” His smile fell again. He started to cry hard then. Porrim physically dragged him onto the floor for a proper shoosh pap. It only ended when he was clinging to her and shaking.  

            “And then Damara lo+o+ked aro+und and fo+und Ho+russ. Yo+u were fo+rced to+ cho+o+se between them, and yo+u picked the o+ne that kept yo+u gro+unded.” Rufioh shuddered once again in her grasp and she papped him again. 

            1…1 h-h-h-had everyth1ng” He sobbed. She shooshed him. He tried again when he could string together more than a word. “1 had 1t all f1gured out. then meenah told both of them. they found out about each other and…1 st1ll don’t know 1f 1 made the right cho1ce porr1m. damara went crazy. she k1lled me porr1m. has that ever happened to you!? the person you p1ty more than anyth1ng, the person you p1ty enough to let them go…you’re respons1ble…re—respons1ble. 1t’s my fault…porr1m. 1t’s all my fault. The game gett1ng ru1ned, the scratch, the dancestors, the—” Porrim soundly shooshed him until he stopped, and papped him until he was a shaking mess in her arms again. Skillfully, she managed to retrieve his cup of tea for him without actually letting go of him.

             “Here…drink up alright” He nodded, accepting the cup with shaking hands. “Listen to+ me carefully, no+ne of this was yo+ur fault.” Rufioh whimpered something unintelligible into her dress. “No+. It was no+t yo+ur idea to play the game. It was no+t yo+ur idea to_ initiate the scratch. Yo+u did no+t go and perso+nally mess with any of the Dancesto+rs and yo+u co+uld no+t have po+ssibly kno+wn what yo+ur actio+ns wo+uld cause. Yo+ur o+nly crime was being confused after pupatio+n, and that’s hardly a crime. it happens to the best o+f us.” She paused to ee that he absorbed her message. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. So far she’d had to make the speech to EVERY SINGLE TEAM MEMBER that it wasn’t their fault. She’d even gotten the pester—chum from Meenah to come over to the moon castle. “So+ after that Ho+russ changed to+o+” she said after a spell. Rufioh nodded, burrowing further into her Rumble Spheres. “Hmmmm” She said softly. “And Ho+russ was mo+re perceptive than yo+u tho+ught. he tried being mo+re like Damara.” Rufioh sniffed again.

             “he got WORSE than ‘mara. he tr1ed to make h1mself do anything 1 m1ght enjoy. but he cuts me off and doesn’t let me th1nk, and 1ts l1ke he’s back to normal. 1t was so hard to break up w1th h1m normally. and everyt1me 1 d1d, he’d get all forceful, and 1 was hooked aga1n.” Porrim sighed, papping his hair, and massaging at the base of his horn.             “Pailing Meulin tho+ugh? I’m surprised Kurlo+z hasn’t tried to kill yo+u yet.” Rufioh scoffed and popped up his head.

             “we d1dn’t pa1l. 1 told what 1 was do1ng, she came by w1th a pa1l full of flu1d, not my 1dea, and we just cl1mbed on the platform and acted flushed.” Porrim does laugh at that. Rufioh flushes.

             “I’m so+rry, I’m so+rry—that’s hysterical!” She managed to gasp out between her peals of laughter. After a while, Rufioh breaks down and laughs with her.              “porr1m…” He looked down. She papped him some more.

             “What’s up?” She asked. He took a deep breath.

             “1f he orders me back, 1’ll break. 1 know 1t. how do 1 stop th1s? 1 can’t keep do1ng th1s. 1t’s not fair to me or h1m” Porrim took a deep breath herself.

             “Well, o+n the + side. That’s no+t an issue anymo+re.” Ruffioh looked at her. She prematurely papped him as she said. “Ho+russ has mo+ved o+n. I’m so+rry. I no+ticed it and enco+uraged it. I didn’t think yo+u’d mind. Yo+u’ve been trying to+ break up with him fo+r a millennia no+w” Rufioh bit his lips once, before coming to terms with the idea in his head. He nodded a few times and the notion firmly settled in his think pan.

             “can you tell me who?” He asked, his voice cracking.

             “Tavro+s.” A shudder went through him as he nodded. 

                “f1gures. he’ll probably make 1t work to. k1ds perfect.” A smile appears on Porrim’s face.

             “Go+o+dness Gracio+us, yo+u Nitrams are terrible. Yo+u kno+w, he said the _exact_ same thing abo+ut yo+u when last I had him in here fo+r a pale session+n.” Her face melted into one of pity as she papped him softly. “I can make a requirements list fo+r Nitrams. Fall in pity with blue blo+o+ds, have lo+w self—esteem, lo+o+k up to+ so+meo+ne that lo+o+ks up to+ yo+u…am I missing any?”

             “commune w1th an1mals?” He humors her. “t1nker—bull?” The two laugh. The mochi melts and Rufioh sleeps in the embrace of the last person who truly pitys him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, we get Porrim twice...'cause why not? I mentioned I liked her. This chap is FIRMLY Rufioh centric. We've been in the process of slowly diving away his Mateprite, why not? I went into kinda a flashback there and used everyone's favorite pale slut to do it. I like Porrim, she keeps the plot movin!


	5. Busy Bodies

There are now a total of three people on the ‘get Tavros and Horuss in red for their own damn good’ club. Rufioh and Damara hadn’t reacted well to working together. That is to say, Damara had screamed every word in the Eastern word defining device, and even a few in western. All he did was inquire as to why she was helping. Porrim guessed that they were all gonna be nice clubs even as Damara pretended to think about it. (Her reason was that she simply liked Tavros. That he was kind, and trustworthy, and didn’t let his issues take over his personality, and had the balls to break up with his Matesprite BEFORE going after someone he felt was better, and that it reminded her of someone that had obviously DIED before the game was even thought of. Rufioh’s response was a wince and an ‘1 deserved that’) Surprisingly, even with Porrim, Damara, and Rufioh working together, Horuss and Tavros don’t _fall_ into Red. And the three were _trying._ They worked to make sure that the two of them were often alone together. They tried to trap them in bubbles with romantic atmospheres, even managed to block them off in one with a sunset and both their favorites. It didn’t seem to work.  The two remained…if not oblivious then stanchly refusing to look at one another. It ran the nerves of the three ragged.

             “これは悪いです” Damara screeched. “私たちは、彼らが性交する必要があります！”

             “Damara, language” Porrim snapped. “We do+n’t need yo+u kno+w who+ sto+rming in here. I just go+t rid of him.”

             “ya know,” Rufioh piped up. “1f 1 taught h1m Eastern Befor1an, he’d be too busy w1th ‘mara to but 1n on the1r conversat1ons. that’s probably what’s stopp1ng them”

             “あなたはKankriを送信することができます。” She agreed.

             “really doll?” She nodded.

             “私は彼の忙しいしておこう。私はヘッドボードに彼を結ぶ、彼は多くのため叫んでからの彼の声を失うまで、彼をファックします。”

             “DAMARA” Porrim snapped. “NO+” Damara pouted.

             “私は彼が良いに性交することだね...” Porrim glared at her. Rufioh sighed.

             “1 know horuss, he l1kes be1ng romantic.” Rufioh plowed on, firmly ignoring the hateful glare Damara sent his way.  “1f he has even the sl1gst thought someone put Tavros up to 1t, he won’t make a move. we have to be really subtle about th1s, make horuss th1nk 1t’s tav’s 1dea. maybe 1f we stop push1ng 1t’ll happen?”

             “私たちは、困難にプッシュしなければならない。” 

            “Let’s try a co+mpro+mise” Porrim suggests. “We each take until the next meeting happens. We’ll try o+ur o+wn ways each.” The two nod on this idea.

Porrim tried first. In between runnning extra interference on Kankri when Tavros sent his ‘trigger warnings’ tingling with his wishes of wings, she also made sure to drop hints whenever either of them were over for a pale session. It just so happened that her next pale session was with Tavros. She put out the grubcake for him, along with Rufioh’s tea, which he had a taste for. She settled down across from him with her own mug of blue blood.

             “So+, what’s o+n yo+ur mind?” Tavros bit his lip. “Is it a certain ho+rse?” She guessed.

             “n-n-NO! i JUST…uM, wANTED TO COME SEE YOU IS ALL.” Porrim smiled and nodded. Tavros still wasn’t 100% comfortable about spilling his guts to her.

               “I understand” She smiled, then took a sip of her blood, before shuddering. “Go+d I fo+rgo+t ho+w co+ld blue was.” She got up, still scowling at her cup. “Do+ yo+u mind if I go+ heat this up?” She asked him.

             “oH NO PROBLEM, DO YOU WANT ME TO GET THAT FOR YOU?” Tavros lunged up for the cup, startling Porrim and causing her to Spill it. “aH, i’M SO SORRY!” She waved it off.

             “It’s no+ pro+blem Tavro+s. I can make mo+re in no+ time.” She assured him.

             “y-YOU SURE?” She nodded, before tilting her head at him.

               “Yo+u know Tavro+s, yo+u’d lo+o+k go+o+d with bl—IN in blue.”

             “bLUE? wHY DO YOU SAY THAT? tHE ONLY REASON YOU DON’T WEAR YOUR BLOOD COLOR IS IF YOU WEAR THE COLOR OF SOMEONE IN A QUADRANT'S COLOR…aT LEAST THAT’S HOW IT WAS ON aLTERNIA”. She bit her lip and shrugged.

             “It just seems to _fit_ you.” Tavros blushed hard enough that the brown was visible through the blue.

             “uM…i GOTTA GO” With that, he bolted from her bubble. She scowled after him.

             “I wasted perfectly go+o+d blo+o+d fo+r no+thing.” She hissed. But she went to clean up the space. After all, Horuss came like clockwork. He was above all things polite and punctual. Sure enough, as soon as she placed out his oatmeal cookies and the milk there was a tentative knock on the door, as if knocking it too hard even with his de-strengthing suit would cause it to smash down. She unlocked the door for the happy looking horse. She smirked at him “Well, lo+o+k _ho+o+ves_ here,right o+n time.” He neighed, bowed, and then entered her hive. “So, I hate to+ cut to+ the chase Ho+russ, but ho+w are yo+u after the who+le…incident.” The horse sighed into his milk, then took a careful sip.

             “I have been informed by Meulin that the entire set up was a cruel joke. I still have no wish to be her Moirail after such ine%cusable prank.” Porrim nodded sagely.              “And Rufio+h?” Horuss snorted angrily.

             “Has made it quite clear that he has no wish to be my Matesprite. However, we are working on being friends.” She smiles at him and nods.

             “That’s go+o+d” She smiled. “Has anyo+ne else caught yo+ ur eyes?” Horuss blushed slightly, but shook his head. “Really no+ o+ne?” He chuckled.

             “I appreciate your trying to fill my remaining quadrants as a proper Moirail would. However, neigh-ther Mare nor Stallion he caught my eye.” She blinked at that. Horuss was a TERRIBLE liar. He was sweating and blushing at the same time and shoved a cookie in his mouth before he could give himself away.

             “Hmm?” She nibbled at a crisp. “I co+uld have _swo+rn_ the last time yo+u bro+ke do+wn it was over a bull.” He choked on his cookie.

             “I have no memory of this” He said after clearing his throat.

             “So+rry, my bad. It was a co+lt” Horuss didn’t even finish his milk, just spluttered out an excuse about needing to help Equius with something. His metal cup was fiercely dented as he slammed it down and ran out. Porrim cursed lightly under her breath.  She hurriedly calculated those who were having the most issues and set up for Cronus.

He didn’t disappoint, coming to wail about his quadrants and lack of action. She’d have slept with him long ago, but he didn’t seem to catch any hints…any. He was the single densest human she’d ever met. (and he had an ENORMOUS red crush on Kankri, but thought it was useless and so went after Meenah. Porrim didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had more luck with _Latula._ ) Right after he left she became aware of screaming outside of her door. Damara and Rufioh were there. She opened the door for them, sending Rufioh to the kitchen and Damara to the sofa where they couldn’t kill each other while she was busy getting snacks. Once the snacks were set out, Rufioh was allowed to move to the living room. She collapsed on the sofa next to Damara, He sat on the other side.

             “porr1m? babe? you alr1ght?”

             “I give up. They are impo+ssible” She groaned as she sat up and took up a crisp. “I do+n’t kno+w abo+ut Ho+russ, but I _to+ld_ Tavro+s that his affectio+ns were returned.”

            “maybe you read to far 1nto 1t? maybe tav doesn’t l1ke h1m l1ke that.” Damara let out a cackling laugh.

             “私を信頼し、彼は同情を感じている” She snarled out something that Porrim couldn’t quite catch in her depressed state.

             “What was that?” She asked. Rufioh’s face was complete fudge

.              “she sa1d, 1f tavros doesn’t p1ty horuss w1th all h1s heart then she must have hated me from the start because he looks worse than she d1d.” Porrim turned to Damara at that, the smile almost splitting her face in two.

             “私はそれに対処します。彼らは時間がないのクソになります” with that, the rust blood slid up and walked out like she _hadn’t_ just given the others in the room reason to worry. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 Damara’s plan was actually very simple. She claimed not to be able to tell the difference between Tinker Bulls and locked Tavros’ in increasingly difficult to open lockboxes. After that, she’d wander in and ‘accidentally’ lock the bubble on her way out. It was a decent strategy. Until of course, Horuss invented a device to clear a bubble if someone was in it. This led to another ‘we’ve failed to get Tavros and Horuss together’ session at Porrim’s home. They weren’t expecting what came next. It was a simple banging on the door, almost like Horuss’. But he wasn’t due yet. Porrim went to answer her door to see something that was _nearly_ familiar. What was familiar about him, was the fact that he was sweating blue and had his eyes obscured. That was the _only_ things familiar about him.

             “Are you the one called ‘Porrim’?” She raked her eyes over him once, then up to his horns. One of them was broken (she internally winced, that had to hurt), but the other reminded her of

             “Yo+u must be Ho+russ’ dancesto+r. Yo+u must also+ have all yo+ur quadrants filled, because I have _never_ seen yo+u.”

             “Hrnk” The boy coughed and blushed bright sapphire, confirming her suspicions. “That is a 100d observation and you stop making them now.” He ordered. She smirked at him, but heard Damara start screaming and the unmistakable sound of Rufioh flying around.

             “Do+ yo+u mind co+ming inside. If I’m not there he’ll die” The boy reeled backwards.

             “I was not aware you were an acting Auspisticize at the moment. I shall return at a more convenient time.” Porrim laughed mirthlessly.

             “That do+esn’t exist, co+me o+n” She ushered him inside and placed him in an armchair while she went to deal with the situation at hand. “DAMARA LEAVE HIM ALO+NE O+R YO+U’LL NEVER SEE ANO+THER CATNIP BRO+WNIE AS LO+NG AS YO+U EXIST.” Damara gave Rufioh one more good hit before sulkily leaving him a bloody crumpled heap on the ground.

             “ow” He whimpered.

             “Do+ yo+u need any help?” She asked him. He shook his head.

             “1 think she’s start1n to forg1ve me. noth1ng was broken th1s t1me…well, no bones at least.” He actually smiles, and Porrim can see that most of the blood on him is from his broken nose, which is almost faucet like in its ability to bleed. She uncatalogued a towel for him and he applied the familiar pressure. Damara had gone to stare at the new houseguest.

             “私は彼とセックスをすることはできますか？” She asked.

“NO” Both shout rang out.Damara pouted, but moved away from him before she was forcibly moved. She went back to her brownies.

             “Do+ yo+u like milk and o+atmeal co+o+kies as much as Ho+russ?” She asked the boy. He began to sweat worse. She uncatalogued another towel to hand him. He accepted it hesitantly.

             “I will not partake in any of your pale prostitution. I’ll have you know that I am in a particularly STRONG Moirallegiance and will not cheat on her. 

            “GOOD BOY!” Damara piped up “CHEAT BAD, YOU NO CHEAT AND BREAK HEART!” Rufioh sighed and nodded.

             “1 deserved that.” He mumbled. “equius” the boy swiveled his head to respond. “dude, what’re you do1n here?” Equius snorted once.

             “I have come to put this despicable brothel out of business.” He snarled, then turned his glare to Porrim. “I admit, I was unsure of doing this on my Dancestor’s behalf as he is older than me, wiser, and undoubtedly my superior, that being said, I ignored the relations with a brown b100d much lower than him on the hemo-spectrum, but I simply cannot stand by and allow him to requisition the services of a make believe Moirail.” He stood then, not sweating, just angry. “You will stop providing these services at once so that proper Moirails can be found! Your willingness to Auspisticize in front of anyone, let alone a stranger speaks volumes about your decadence and lack of shame. That being said, you are a horrific influence on my Dancestor and you will cease communications with him this instant!” Porrim pursed her lips once, trying desperately not to laugh. Rufioh and Damara were caught between staring at the boy with bigger shame globes than all of Paradox Space and Porrim herself, hoping desperately that she didn’t get angry.

             “I’m ho+nestly curio+us” She sneered darkly. “Are yo+u _trying_ to+ be an anno+yance?” She quirked her head, leaning down closer to him. “O+r...maybe yo+u’re trying fo+r so+mething mo+re?” She purred.

             “HRNK” He coughed again. She smirked, taking a step.  As she advanced to him, Equius took a step back. “T…th..this is 100dicrous, you are—you will cease at once and conduct yourself with the dignity of one befitting your b100d status!” He hit the wall. He had almost slipped on his own sweat a few times in his effort to get away from her. She slinked forward, as graceful and a pounce beast.

             “Every o+rder that flies fro+m yo+ur blue lips just makes me angrier” She growled. When she got to him, she gathered his hair in one hand, and pulled, he went limp. She removed his glasses to check and chuckled. He’d gone unconscious.  “Ahh, that’s go+o+d. All the pale talk as o+f late, I’d tho+ught I lo+st it.” She walked away from Equius and left him on the ground as he was to heavy to move. Rufioh looked more than a little disturbed.

             “why…just…why?”

             “Ho+nestly, I wanted to+ shut him up.” She shrugged, then returned to her seat and sipped her blood.  “No+w, Befo+re that interruption+n, we were discussing Damara’s lack o+f results.” She glared.

             “最初の計画では、それが働いてきただろう” Porrim sighed.

             “doll, no. we aren’t gett1ng kurloz or aranea to do anything with their minds.

             “彼らはクソを覚ますでしょう。問題解決”

             “no” Rufioh sighed. “The easy way out 1s not always the moral way out.”

             “ あなたはそれについて何を知っていますか？” Rufioh winced, but nodded.

             “1 deserved that” Damara nodded savagely. Porrim groaned once and reached out both of her hands, one latched onto Rufioh’s horn, the other on Damara’s.

             “Can we please fo+cus?” She asked once the two of them started clicking in contentment. They snapped out of it to think. 

            “1 got an 1dea” Rufioh said at last.

             “Do+ we get to+ hear it?” Porrim asked.

             “no.” He said after a beat. “but he just gave me an 1dea. and 1 feel k1nda dumb for not th1nk1ng of 1t before.” Rufioh had indicated Equius, still knocked out by the wall. By the time the girls looked back, he was gone.

             “ミニポニーは彼にアイデアを与えた？”  

            “Apparently” Porrim shrugged. “Speaking o+f…Equius I think it was, can yo+u take him when yo+u go+?”

             “私は私の力を炒めたら、私はあなたを非難” 

 

* * *

 

 

Rufioh’s plan was not obvious enough to be seen by either Porrim or Damara, but apparently it worked as Porrim didn’t see either of them in her hive again. Damara seemed happy enough and an interrogation revealed that Tavros had learned Eastern Beforian and was now her Moirail. Everyone was happy, everyone except Porrim that was. She hunted through the dream bubbles until she managed to find where Rufioh’s current home was. Then she scaled the trees to actually get to him. Because he was not her, there were no snacks waiting for her as his hive, though he did offer to alchemize some of his blood for her. She declined and they both had the iced peppermint tea he had on hand.

             “So+ ho+w’d yo+u do+ it?” She asked, once they got done with the preface of welcomes and small talk. Rufioh smirked.

             “equius was so concerned about horuss’ 1ntegr1ty and thought you were enough of a ‘bad 1nfluence’ to ser1ously harm h1m.” Porrim nodded. “then 1 real1zed that tav near 1dol1zed me, so 1 just started talk1ng about the reasons we d1dn’t cl1ck.” Porrim blinked twice.

             “I’m afraid I’m no+t fo+llo+wing” She confessed. She felt like the reasoning was ight in front of her face and she was just missing it.

             “horuss managed to have tavros completely muddy some t1mes, l1ke, not just h1s face, EVERYWHERE. then he’d come to me and, try1ng to get them together, 1’d talk about how n1ce he was. 1 forgot that tavros looks up to me. he thought that 1 st1ll l1ked horuss enough to want h1m back, and that when 1t happened he’d have no chance.”

             “So+ yo+u bad mo+uthed him.” Porrim nodded understandably. “Wait, _yo+u_ had a bad wo+rd to+ say abo+ut so+meo+ne?” He attempted to scowl at her, but his lips were twitched up, and his eyes betrayed his laughter.

             “Alr1ght, 1 deserved that.” They both laughed.

             “Damara seems happy with her new diamo+nd.” Porrim remarked. Rufioh nodded.

             “the k1d’s a m1racle worker. 1 thought for sure 1 k1lled her sm1le. glad to see 1t’s back.” Porrim smiled, then reached over and smacked Rufioh hard.

             “OW what was that for!?”

             “We’re no+t in my hive. I’m no+ lo+nger ‘rent a pale’. We are currently just friends, and I can’t STAND anyo+ne badmo+uthing my friends. So+ sto+p beating yo+urself up.” Rufioh blushed slightly, but nodded.

             "yes ma’am” Both of them smiled when one of the slight rifts that meant someone had recently entered a bubble was felt. They looked outside the window.

             “tH1S LOOKS L1KE A GOOD PLACE FOR A PICNIC?” Tavros said, holding a decently sized picnic basket. Horuss looked around.

             “I think this may be Rufioh’s home…or Damara’s.” Tavros shrugged.

             “sO…WE MOVE?” Horuss thought about it

.              “A bit more” He agreed. Tavros sighed, lugging the item. Horuss took it from him.

             “1 THOUGHT YOU SA1D 1 SHOULD GET BACK SOME OF THE STRENGTH 1 HAD IN L1FE BY CARRYING 1T.” Horuss nodded.

             “I did say that, I’ve also changed my mind. I do not like seeing you struggle with this, even if it is for your own good. There are other ways to gain back your STRENGTH.” Tavros smiled at his red-mate. Knowing Horuss was strong enough, he practically climbed the taller male to reach his face. Horuss used one hand to make sure Tavros didn’t fall as they kissed. When they parted, Tavros laughed and jumped down.

             “1’M GONNA HAVE TO ASK mEENAH HOW TO CHANGE 1NTO SOMETH1NG YOU WEREN’T BEFORE. 1’VE GOTTA GET TALLER.” Horuss looked momentarily horrified.

             “I FORBID IT!” He ordered at once. “You are pony sized…and perfect” Tavros blushed.

             “sOFTER THAN YOUR MANE” He mumbled. Horuss heard him and swooped down to kiss him on the nose. The two exited the dream bubble, still laughing and talking with one another.  

 

Porrim and Rufioh looked at each other. Then smiled and toasted their glasses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I WAS gonna show the whole date. I was talking to my friend earlier and telling him about the story and mentioned that I used Porrim as a pale slut. He pointed out that she was more into the concupiscent quadrants. Then I made her flirt...then I looked at her flirting as said "OHHHHHH, THAT'S why the romance I write is all either hinted at or done before the story. As a girl who has never flirted/been flirted with I have NO IDEA what flirting sounds like. So, I decided not to do that, I'm apparently only good at romance stuff when it's very small and hinted at. Sorry. I don't even think anyone's really reading this save the girl I'm writing this for. That being said, I'm ending it here unless people ask me like what happens on the date and stuff. Also, I'm sorry for any and all typos. I think my keyboard is on it's way to meet the Mirthful Messiahs.


End file.
